H. C. Andersen's the little match‐seller in translation

Abstract

Translated children's literature has attracted attention in translation studies. This article explores some differences in translation caused by linguistic, cultural, and possibly ideological differences between Danish, English and Chinese, as well as between two Chinese translations. The Danish original, one English translation, and two Chinese translations of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale “The Little Match‐seller” are compared from lexical, syntactical, and semantical points of view. The information of children's literature in Denmark, England and China is followed by background information providing explanations for the differences.